The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-01-12
FEATURES OF CHINA.
A VISIT TO THE INMATES OF a
GOVERNMENT PRISON. I. II

GOVERNMENT PRISON. I.
Prisoners Who Get o Great Deal OF 3
Pleasure Out Of Life-Court Of Justice.
Punishment OF Perjurers-Coinase OF 5
the Empire.
Having rainy day to spare I have spent
part Of it ID visit 70 the government prison.
Why the inmates remain here longer than
they wish IS puzzle have yet to solve, fqqr
getting out seems the easiest thing in the
world A small fee to the man IN charge
took us oil about the place. Isaw but one 4
Guard, and he was sound asleep, with an out
lit for smoking opium beside him There was
one locked door, and that q hard push would
have demolished. Phe prisoners had chains
about their feet; and were permitted to
roam about They were playing cards and
smoking, and seemed to- Be getting as much
pleasure out of life as did the world outside.
They all wanted acunlshawT and as ono
can get 1850 acash" for Mexican dollar,
one can feel like prince throwing handsful
of money for as little actual expense as IN
any place on earth, A solid pocketful f 4
coin for an American twenty five cent pieos
will 60 long way in China. A few of the.
worst prisoners were Gagged by themselves, {,
with collar made Of square plnnling exs
tending three feet either way about their
necks; these werc the only ones who could not
have departed when they were tired OF con-
finenent The women's department. was In
the same style as that Of the men, and they
too looked as If they had found a comfortable
place and wanted to keep it. Every day or
two d few prisoners are decapitated, and thus
the prison Is kept from being overcrowded i
IN A COURT OF JUSTICE
The court was in session not far away, and,
we walked in to see how justice Is admins
tered here. One man was being examined by
the mandarin and four or five more were
being tortured The guide told Us that athey
no speak truth" we found that they were
witnesses with the truth Of whose testimony
the Judge was not satisfied. A little torture;
he thought would extract the truth; This
torture was simple. A plank is placed on endss
and at the top end bottom two other pieces O.
wood are fastened at right angles, making a.
frame something like carpenters 1horse.
The knees Of the unhappy perjurer are first
beaten to make them tender; he is then placed
in kneeling position with the arms drawn
straight behind him and kept there by a
,srins which is tied about each thumb and
then drawn up taut, the string being susi
pended from the sticks at the top OF the
slank. Other cords hold up his feet. being.
fastened tightly to the great toe and then.
irawp up so that tho leg is bent behind h1nni
and held in the air-the weight Of the body
Of course coming partly on the tender knee,
and partly on the great toes A hole Is made
/ IN the plank Just behind his head, and through
this the cue La drawn and fastened to little
windlass; this being slowly revolyed q not,
too pleasant result Of pulled harris obtained
Fearful were the yells of one Of those. nnen;s
lf half hour of that would not bring the
truth nothing would, Two of the men were
softly groaning, and two others had faces Ike
Stoics, and not-a murmer came from tnemf;
They evidently believed that lie well STUCK
to was as good as the truth. The sight was
not pleasant, and we came away with great
respect for tho law as administered in China.
This method Of preventing perjury ! recmi-
mend to the notice of our law makers, Tor it
| [, said to bring about the required result u
Kept up long enough. The only flaw seems to
be that the mandarin alone has to be satisdeds
End it is just possible that he might be mis-
taken ct times. E..E ~ s.
THE COINAGE OF THE EMPIRE.
The collecting of coins has a temporary.
fascination for the visiting foreigner. No.
roin in China is ever called in, and the coinage.
remains the same as when first issued about
six centuries before Christ. The Chinese word
for sscurrent money" and tho name OF the
emperor in whose reign it was coined are on
zach piece. The coin is cast, not stamped;
end has O square hole for facility In handling,
any number being strung on bit Of bamboo.
Our consul lately took about hundred, ncS
picked coins-but ones with which hisseryaIts
were buying articles from day to day-and
had them classified by man verscd In the
history of tho Chinese dynasties. These coins
dated from 800 B. C. to the present reign. Il
have one issued about tho time Of the Ro-
man conquest, but showing little signs Of it's
are. The characters are worn aIvay ON one one
side. but the reverse is as. plain as u. 1t had
been only few years out Of the mint
have lately seen something OF the boat
life of. Canton, and very queer it is. That
such mass of humanity can be packed INTO
tho space the boats occupy is hard to UNDER
stand. They get along much better with one
mother than one would suppose-waltlng
their turn to get out Of jam without the
Billingsgate that a jam IS apt to bring torth
elsewhere saw one or two cases where
naturally sweet temper seemed to be ruined O
little, but it was soon over. Z large family
will occupy few feet Of space, living, eat;
ing, sleeping i'll a spot too small to fairiy
breathe in. They tie a float to the boy
babies, and if they fall overheard they ais'
safe. The girls are saved if convenient, for
rirls do not count for much in China; they
need civilization to learn their power. The
boy is u brcad-whmer, and its life IS yalll;;
able. The smaller portion of the family they
put along the keel under the floor at night;
iift up a board and there you'll find them,
packed in like sarlines in box. For all
their crowding, and what must be life OF
hardship and discomfort, the babies looked os
chubby, and the older members of the family
arc as healthy and in as good spirits, as II
they lived with few acres of green meadow
ubout each family.-Canton Correspondence
New York Tribune. 49,, as
Took Advantage of the Decline.
A newsboy who was eating away at a yel-
low banana, while he had two red ones stuffed
in his pockets, was approached by another
a;ll asked:
"Did you get that tin type took fur ten
centsl"
"Naw.'
"Tco cloudyw